More than $500,000 granted for emergency preparedness funding in Vancouver

Vancouver will receive $584,000 in federal funding for emergency preparedness programs in 2011-12, the federal government announced Thursday.

The money is part of $6.5 million the government will spend on more than 300 projects across Canada under the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program, federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in Vancouver Thursday.

The three Vancouver projects to receive funding will be undertaken by the Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) task force. They include:

• The purchase and replacement of machinery and equipment to be used in response to a major structural collapse ($410,000).

• Search and rescue task force operations and maintenance funding, such as vehicle insurance and licensing, and base camp support equipment ($102,000).

Toews said the country’s five HUSAR task forces “form a key component of Canada’s national emergency response capabilities.

“Whether it is finding and rescuing people who have been trapped under fallen buildings; using heavy equipment to breach, shore up or remove structural components and take away debris; or treating victims on-site and transferring them to medical facilities, our HUSAR team is ready to protect Canadians in the face of disaster.”

Nationwide, the funding will help in the purchase of emergency response equipment, emergency training and planning exercises and urban search and rescue operations.

The Joint Emergency Preparedness Program is administered by Public Safety Canada with the aim of enhancing national capacity to respond to all types of emergencies and to enhance the resiliency of critical infrastructure.

Projects are proposed annually by the provincial and territorial governments and cost-shared.

medha@vancouversun.com

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More than $500,000 granted for emergency preparedness funding in Vancouver

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